Home

The new innovative UofN program is called “UofN Extension Studies”. It is designed to serve the many people who are fully engaged in both ministry situations and the working world, but desire to continue through part time studies to be further equipped in the spheres of society God has called them into. There are some great advantages to part time study, such as not needing to change location or step out of present commitments or responsibilities to engage in further learning and equipping. Since Extension Studies courses would run locally or via the online environment there are no visa or immigration issues, or travel expenses.

Extension Studies integrates well with everyday life and ministry, wherever the person is called. Many of our alumni and friends are engaged in different spheres of society, serving in the areas God has called them. They are looking for further training at the location where they live and work. Education is now a lifelong process of learning. The body of Christ is very motivated to engage in relevant training and eager to be better equipped.

With our present full time UofN courses we cannot reach this wider audience. For this reason, we have created this new initiative, called, ‘UofN Extension Studies’. This enables us YWAMers to offer University level courses on evenings, weekends, over lunchtimes, online or in whatever format is needed to serve a specific people and outcome. It is designed to be a part-time model of learning with the rhythm and schedule depending on the audience and objectives. Courses can be created at every level and for many different audiences, to serve the beginner as well as the professional. Through Extension Studies, we can create courses to serve the regular churchgoer, business professionals, healthcare professionals, government agencies and many more.

Through our present UofN Courses we have developed very fruitful curriculum in many categories. There are hundreds of amazing UofN 12-week courses covering a wide variety of topics and outcomes. Imagine, for example, the potential of a portion of the Bible Core Course being taught in the format of evening classes! Or imagine a School of Evangelism equipping people during weekends with portions of the content from the full-time 12-week course. The impact of elements of our Community Development School or the Introduction to Primary Health Care being taught in seminars could be life-changing for families and communities. Extension Studies creates a great opportunity for our staff to equip and train people locally to a UofN approved standard that do not have the opportunity to study full time with YWAM. These new UofN Extension Studies courses empower us to truly teach the multitudes like Jesus did and has called us to do.

Participants need to be at least 15 years old to be registered with Extension Studies.

Of course many of our YWAM locations are already doing such training to serve the body of Christ but the exciting new dimensions that Extension Studies courses adds is:

• They are fully registered with the UofN.
• Students are participating in a course with a clear curriculum, outcome and evaluation.
• On completion they receive a UofN certificate to affirm the success of their achievement.
• They will also receive UofN credit for their accomplishment.

The credit received is called ‘LCU’ Credit. This stands for ‘Learning Components Units’, with the amount of credits depending on the hours of the focused learning activities that lead to the desired outcomes of the course. One UofN LCU Credit is achieved through twenty-five hours of focused learning activities. Extension Studies courses include clear learning outcomes, evaluation of the student’s grasp of the subject, and a final grade. Once the course has been completed, the course leader then enters the student’s information and grades, and can then immediately print the course certificates for each successful student. These can then be presented in recognition of the student’s achievement. If a student at some point desires to use the Extension Studies course credit towards a UofN degree, then the LCU credits would be evaluated as other transfer credits. The amount of LCU credits that count towards a degree will depend on the subject of the degree and if the LCU credits are appropriate for the degree focus. For everyone desiring to work towards a UofN degree, we suggest enrolling in a DTS and then following a course of full time study.

Every course is registered at an existing YWAM Operating Location even if it is held at a different location. This opens the opportunity to run a course wherever the best location is to serve a given audience and to achieve the desired outcomes. For example, a campus in Switzerland can run an English Language course in Egypt to serve Sudanese Refugees! The course leader, who is approved by the YWAM Operating Locations leadership, will create the course with an easy and helpful step-by-step online process. The approval will be done through a thorough and speedy process including the Base Leader and appropriate UofN Leadership. Once the approval process is finished, the course is open to run.

Each time the course runs there is a simple “re-registration” button which will automatically pre-populate all the fields with the information from the previous course. This then allows minor adjustments to be made for and quick re-registration for the course to be run again. There is no fee for course registration. Support is available on this web site to help you during the course creation process.

Extension Studies costs are related to each student and the number of UofN LCU-Credit, with A, B, C nation pricing band [click here for a link to these nation categories]. The A, B, C pricing is based not on the student’s nationality but on the location where the course is being run. The payment is made when the course has been completed and the students with their grades are being registered, all with the easy online system. There is no cost to create and register an Extension Studies course. The cost is as follows: A Category location is USD 10, B Category location is USD 4, and C Category location is USD 1. All prices are per student/per credit and in US dollars.

So for example, if a 3 credit course is run in the Brazil and there are 10 students then the formula and total payment would look like this. 3 (credits) x $4 (B Cat nation.) x 10 (students) = USD 120. This cost is not the cost of the course. That is separate and determined by the base that is offering the course. This cost is what the base running the course pays to the UofN for the records and academics.

For Online Extension Studies courses, where students could be from multiple nation categories, there is a set charge of USD 4 per student per LCU credit.

As this initiative of UofN Extension Studies develops we will be able to offer the student registration process in all the main UofN languages. With the whole registration process being multilingual it will enable courses to be created, processed and run in multiple languages.

The Extension Studies platform has been set up to accommodate both synchronous and asynchronous online courses. The parameters for UofN Extension Studies online courses can be found by clicking this link here. The potential impact and fruitfulness in the nations through such learning is enormous and the development of online courses is enthusiastically encouraged.

For Online Extension Studies courses, where students could be from multiple nation categories, there is a set charge of USD 4 per student per LCU credit.

The DTS is the gateway for all who want to join YWAM as well as the prerequisite for all UofN courses. Extension Studies are focusing on a wider audience, not those looking to engage fulltime with YWAM, but rather those who want to be equipped to better serve in the spheres of life and ministry God has called them into. For this reason there is no DTS requirement for anyone to participate in an Extension Studies course. If any participant of Extension Studies program desires to become a YWAM missionary, then of course a DTS would be required.